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Soldier had holdall ‘full of guns’ at Carlisle rail station

A soldier caught with a holdall full of guns after he got off a train at Carlisle station has been warned he faces an inevitable prison sentence.

William Dempsey, 28, who is based in Canterbury with the 5th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland, was arrested wearing combat uniform near the station on Friday, August 21.

At Carlisle Crown Court he pleaded guilty to seven firearms offences – unlawfully possessing a double-barrel shotgun, an Uzi sub-machine gun and a pistol, having the Uzi and handgun in a public place, and possessing the ammunition for the pistol and a silencer for the sub-machine gun.

Dempsey, a soldier for 12 years, was remanded in custody until December 18 to allow the prosecution time to study the basis of his guilty plea.

In the meantime, the probation service will prepare a pre-sentence report, to accompany a psychiatric report which has already been completed.

The judge, the Hon Mr Justice Singh, said that under provisions for a statutory minimum five-year sentence for all firearms offences, a jail sentence would be inevitable.